Tag Archives | Betsey Bruner

Across from Wheeler Park in the heart of historic downtown Flagstaff, a team with heavy earth-moving equipment made short work this spring of demolishing three non-historic buildings. By mid-April, a huge gap in the urban landscape had developed, consisting of multiple parcels, including a half block north and a quarter of a block south of […]

A vital town is like a living organism – shedding old skins and growing new ones. Case in point: the closing of old drinking establishments and restaurants and the birth of innovative taverns for both wine and beer downtown. The popularity of Flagstaff as a destination for visitors and as a happy hometown for residents […]

After their wedding in September 2015, Dara and Joe Rodgers wanted to kick off their marriage with a slight change in direction – a kind of shift. When it opens its doors in April, that change will have manifested in Shift, their new restaurant in the historic Babbitt Building downtown. “We really wanted to […]

Girlie, a fluffy calico cat, has a great new home, complete with a stunning view of the San Francisco Peaks. Her bed is comfy, too, and is located by the desk in the office of Lynne Nemeth, executive director of The Arboretum at Flagstaff. Along with her relative, Cleo, they are on 24-hour rodent patrol […]

Dotted by both juniper and pinyon pines, the landscape is flat, but also consists of pastoral lands that give way to vast sandstone canyons with unobstructed views of Lake Powell, the Echo Peaks and the Vermilion Cliffs. Located on the last mesa before the descent into the town of Page, 12 miles away, this is […]

The vastness of the windswept landscape, studded with native brush and trees, stands in contrast to the energies of manmade development that have emerged since 2013 just north of Interstate 40, 24 miles east of Flagstaff en route to the town of Winslow. This is the evolving world of a modern Twin Arrows site […]

Change your newborn’s diaper. Check! Assemble the colorful hanging crib toy. Check! Lean close over your baby’s face, make eye contact and smile. Check! Repeat back the first sounds they make, “Pa-pa, Ma-ma, Ba-ba.” Check! Hold, bounce and cuddle your baby. Check! Okay, so you are a new dad, just learning the ropes. It is […]

Traveling almost 8,000 miles to fill his new position as food and beverage director for Xanterra at the Grand Canyon South Rim Lodges was an “easy” decision, says Todd Rodemyer, who left Kabul, Afghanistan, for the Grand Canyon. “It was the best move I’ve made yet. I really like it here.” While in Kabul, Rodemyer worked as a government contractor for the U.S. Embassy, managing the food service for the entire state department operation, which includes six dining facilities and catering from the ground up. “It was an amazing experience and I had a great relationship with the ambassador and state department commanders.” Although he was in a war zone, he says he always felt safe at the compound in Kabul, because it was guarded by Gurkha Guard Force. “They are some of the greatest and most dedicated soldiers I’ve ever been around.” He adds that it was intense at times.

Having lived in Flagstaff for more than 40 years, I know there are some things you can count on as spring comes to the high country: wind, weather that changes in the blink of an eye, the return of the elk and deer along the highways and freezing at Little League games (did I mention the wind?